Music is My Imaginary Friend

Today I got some news I wasn't exactly thrilled with. Bummed my afternoon. So I decided to perk myself up with music and these yummy cookies. I'm not a fan of cookies. Well...most cookies. I like the Choc Chip Cookies I make. And Snickerdoodles? Can't go wrong with a Snickerdoodle. But for the most part, I don't really eat cookies. Most choc chip cookies are flat and flavorless. No real dimension to them. These cookies, however...D-Lightfully D-Lish. I highly recommend them. They are from that little coffee/sandwich shop next to Lush at Bell Square. Not sure what the place is called...I just call it The Yummy Cookie place.

The music? A band called Cansei de ser Sexy which is Portuguese for "I'm tired of being sexy." Best band name EVER! I don't know if the band is Portuguese or sexy, but their music sure cheers a sad girl up.

Which leads me to my desktop wallpaper at work:

"When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story." - Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother

Smiles and International Calls

Whoever decided to put banana stickers on your forehead was a genius. I thought it was just me. When I worked in Provo I went through a banana spurt and ate one every day at work. And each time the banana had a sticker on it, I would put the sticker on my forehead. Walked around like that all night. The people on my team thought I was strange. Which I am, but for more valid reasons than putting a banana sticker on my forehead. So I was very pleased when I but a bunch of bananas the other day and the sticker actually said to place it on my forehead and smile. Thanks Chiquita!

On a completely unrelated note: what is with people in movies traveling to Europe and using their cell phones? True most cell phones will work anywhere there is a cell tower in Europe, but do these people not care about roaming charges? They're just cavalierly placing international calls or accepting them with no thought to the $1.50 - $3.99 per minute charge. I even checked AT&T's roaming charges, what with all of their advertisement about their phones working all over the world and their roaming charges were more than I'd ever want to pay. I know, I know, movies aren't meant to be realistic. But come on! Someone say something about the hundreds of dollars the phone call is costing them. Suggested solution for International Travelers: Get a GSM phone (for those of you in the good ol' US of A that mens AT&T or T-Mobile), get it unlocked before you leave the country, when you arrive at the other country get a pre-paid SIM card with a local # to use for local calls and a calling card for international calls.

Lake Boren

I've been meaning to go to Lake Boren for a good year now. And it's not like it's far away or anything, it's just south of where I live. The only time I go south of Newcastle is to the airport or IKEA. I just don't do it. Kinda like going to Kuna when I lived in Boise. Not a place you go unless you've got a purpose. I wanted to get a photo of this umbrella on the dock that's in the background, but I couldn't figure out how to get to the dock. The paved walkway didn't go there. I thought it would be a nice photo with the rain lightly sprinkling on the lake. But by the time I actually got to Lake Boren, the rain had stopped. So, I tried this photo. Meh. I like the lake, but not so much with the umbrella.

I decided that since I was going south today, I'd go where no middle class white person goes. To the Renton Wal-Mart. O.k...so I'm not middle class, I'm white trash around the edges and entirely cheap when it comes to the prices I have to pay up here in Seattle. I don't like paying $6 for a bottle of generic vegetable oil, when I know I can get that same bottle at Wal-Mart in Boise for $1.88. It's just craziness to me. Turns out today I had some staples to buy: TP, Cascade, All, and various sundries. I decided that since I'm thinking of going to Argentina for a month, why should I fear the Renton Wal-Mart? Sure they've got security guards patroling the parking lot and likely the store, but c'mon. It's not like it's a third world country. Turns out it wasn't bad, but the place was lousy with people. There is an urgent need for signals on the intersections of the aisles. Either that or arrows showing right of way. Lousy with people, I tell you.

How is it that no one bothered to tell me...

...that Ricky Schroder's wife is on this season of Top Design?!? The woman I wanted to be when I was 11 years old. My friend Tricia and I had a competition between us of who loved Ricky Schroder more. I cut his photo out of a TV Guide and put it in my Bible. I would pull it out during Sunday School and torture Tricia with it, I'm sure making kissy faces at it and all sorts of young girlish annoying things. I had kept it in my Bible for years. Long after Silver Spoons had been cancelled. And truthfully, I barely remember a scene from any episode of Silver Spoons, but my crushing adolescent love for Ricky came rushing back as soon as Andrea said her husband is Rick Shroder. Lucky duck!

Now on to Top Design. I was completely confused when I saw it. Who was this blonde British woman and where was odd and awkward Todd Oldham? Man it was torture to watch his scenes. Poor thing had to do voice overs ALL. THE. TIME. I can only guess he just couldn't get his lines down. Obviously not an actor nor a host. But to not see him as a host, I felt bad. As if they'd fired him. I felt bad for him...as if losing a hosting gig on Bravo was going to devestate him. The man, I'm sure, has more money than everyone I know put together. But still...felt bad. Yeah...so that was episode 2 of the season. When I went and found episode 1 I find that Todd's transitioned into the only thing he did well last season: offering advice. So much better at that. This season looks interesting. We'll see...

Wild Wild West

Yesterday was Wild Wild West Day for the Bellevue South Stake at the base of Mount Si in North Bend. Totally gorgeous mountain. Kellye's mom tells me it's a dormant volcano. Let's hope it stays dormant for a while.

Hanging with Kellye's family is almost like hanging with my own. Totally comfortable and cute kids. Isn't Amy just adorable?

After hanging out with about 300 of my closest stake members, I came home and watched Fringe. I read a little about the show when the pilot was picked up and stayed away from other info afterward for fear of being spoiled. I like being surprised by story lines. This entire storyline was a surprise to me. I had read that Fringe was going to be about people in comas on a plane and trying to figure out what caused everyone to be in a coma. Yeah, that was kind of the plot of the premiere episode, but not really. The show looks like it will be rather X-Files-y. I never got into the X-Files, so I'm not sure if I'll get into this show. But it's a JJ Abrams show, so I probably will.

Another surprise was Privileged. Silly show really. But fantastic music. And a lot of it stuff I'd heard from lohrke. Mika, The Bird and the Bee, Lily Allen...great stuff. I liked the main actress - the one in the front. I think I've seen her in something before, but I skimmed her imdb page and didn't recognize anything.